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Retro Indy: Penny Ice Fund

1:35 p.m. EDT July 17, 2014

The city's record-breaking temperatures were no problem for two brothers, 4 and 8 years old, who climbed into the bed of The Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund truck and munched ice.(Photo: Maurice Burnett/The Star 1946)

The summer of 1936 is a benchmark for heat waves in Indiana. Hoosiers withstood temperatures of at least 100 degrees a record 12 times, including a nine-day streak. On July 14, 1936, the temperature in Collegeville, in Jasper Co., rose to 116°F, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the state of Indiana.

Physicians at City Hospital (later Wishard Memorial Hospital) issued a warning to persons to stay out of the sun and to take small amounts of salt with frequent drinks of cool water. For the most part, though, Hoosiers made do with electric fans, and they were at a premium. Add in the Great Depression, drought and minimal air conditioning, and 1936 made for a miserable time for many.

Lines like this were witnessed daily by deliverymen for The Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund in the Depression. This was the scene 7/14/40 at the corner of Vermont and Koehne Streets. Many children with wagons, carriages and carts waited to get a 25-pound block of ice for a penny to guard the scanty food supply at home and maybe bring some relief during hot summer nights. (Photo: Star file)

When extreme heat descends upon Indianapolis in the middle of the summer, you can count on young entrepreneurs setting up their lemonade stands. These children were aiding the Penny Ice Fund. (Photo: STAR FILE)

The Salvation Army-Indianapolis Star Penny Ice Fund supported by charitable donations, assisted the city's residents who fell on hard times during the Depression. The fund conducted during the summer months from 1931 to 1957 endeavored to make sure no family suffered through hot summer days and nights for lack of ice to provide a cooling drink or to safeguard food supplies. (Photo: Star file)

Three delivery trucks made regularly scheduled weekday stops at dozens of ice delivery stations in various parts of Indianapolis. Members of each family could buy 25 pounds of ice for a penny or 50 pounds for 2 cents. July 3, 1936 photo (Photo: Star file)

Members of the Brookside Penny Ice Fund Follies coast posted for a photo before presenting their fourth annual performance at Brookside Park community House to benefit The Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund. July 1, 1949 (Photo: Frank Fisse/The Star)

Penny Ice Fund drivers line up outside the offices of the Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund headquarters at 301 N Pennsylvania St. to load up their trucks with blocks of ice in 1933 (Photo: Star file)

George Danforth had the coolist job in town..literally. He delivered blocks of ice to needy, elderly and shut-ins courtesy of the Indianapolis Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund. 1945 (Photo: Indianapolis Star file photo)

Kids wait for The Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund truck to arrive. The only ice they and their families can afford is that received from the fund for a penny or two. Indianapolis Star file photo (Photo: 1939)

A bed-ridden woman receives a chip of ice in her water to cool off during the hot and humid summer of 1940. The woman received the ice through the Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund. (Photo: Star file)

The city's record-breaking temperatures were no problem for two brothers, 4 and 8 years old, who climbed into the bed of The Star-Salvation Army Penny Ice Fund truck and munched ice. (Photo: Maurice Burnett/The Star 1946)

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A Penny Ice Fund, ran by The Indianapolis Star and Salvation Army, raised funds that so needy families could buy 25 pounds of ice for 1 cent or 50 pounds for 2 cents. Each day, money that readers donated to the fund was used to buy ice to help cool poor people and shut-ins.

Few homes had refrigeration, but most had iceboxes to keep food cold, and an "iceman" would drop off blocks of ice to store inside it. Kids would chase behind the delivery truck to get the shards of ice that fell off the back.

The biggest contributors to the fund were children. Kids would set up lemonade stands, hold plays or find their own unique way to raise money to help other children keep cool. The Penny Ice Fund ran until the early 1950s.